Pumpkin Carving

Now that the kids are getting a little older we did a few more Halloween projects this year besides the traditional pumpkin carving. They have had so much fun with all the Halloween decorations around. Kate used to just scream and cry anytime we'd show her a mask or pretty much anything Halloween-y. But this year she just laughs at all of it and tells us that "the silly and scary things are just for Halloween so that makes them fun." We are sure glad for her change in perspective.

Joe and the kids drew a huge pumpkin sign and colored it and hung on the wall in our family room. We also made a giant black spider out of trash bags and hung it from the ceiling of our front porch.

We've gotten our pumpkin carving tradition down to an art now. First we saran wrap the kitchen table. Then we let Daddy hollow out the pumpkins. This year Sammy kept looking at the pumpkin guts and saying, "Eeeewwwwww!"

Then we let the kids draw the faces on their pumpkins and Daddy carves it out just like they drew them.

Then we put the candles inside and...


take a picture all together with our newly carved pumpkins.

Random Rachael Tag

The Rules:

*Link to the person who tagged you: My sister-in-law, Geri, tagged me.

*Post the rules on your blog.
*Write six random things about yourself.

*Tag six people and let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

*Let your tagger know when your entry is up. (Don't forget to come back and tell me you've completed this tag!)

Okay normally I don't like to do these but Geri caught me on a good day I guess so here it goes...

1) I love to sing. This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to most of you. But seriously, I’d rather sing than give a talk, read something aloud or pretty much anything. My face gets all red when I have to do those kinds of things. But when I sing, for some reason I’m as cool as a cucumber. I don’t know why. It is what it is.

2) I tend to be over-the-top organized. Unfortunately, this doesn’t necessarily apply to my house all the time. But if I didn’t have to clean up after little kids making messes all day it would. I love when every paper has its file, every toy has its box and every little thing has its specific place. I love organizing things into bins or totes and I love using a label maker to top it all off. Another part of this is that I’m a list person. I love to have lists whether they’re daily, weekly, monthly or whatever. I just love crossing the things off. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something.

3) I love to rearrange furniture. I love trying out new ways to place it. This one’s kind of weird because sometimes I can’t help but to sit there even at other people’s houses and picture a more functional way to arrange their furniture. Or I picture that if I lived there for some reason, how I would arrange my own furniture in that space. I know. It’s sick, right? But it gets worse. Sometimes I end up dreaming about it too. Then in the morning I end up having the perfect idea of how it could work.

4) My whole life I’ve never had my ears pierced. That is, until about a month ago. I’m 27 years old and I just pierced my ears! I’d wanted to do it for a few years now but never felt the need before. But last month while my sister-in-law was in town, we went and finally had it done. Hey, the rules say random and that’s random.

5) I have a couple of all-time favorite comfort foods. The first is grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup and second is scrambled eggs with toast. And I’m pretty particular about how to eat them both too but I won’t go into that or you’ll think I’m an even bigger freak than you already do. But seriously, there really isn’t anything cozier than these two favorites. I could have them every day. I especially love them when I’m pregnant. They’re just feel-good kind of foods.

6) I love flat Sprite…you know, when the crazy fizz is all gone. Mmmm…. so good. The funny thing is, so does Joe. That’s one thing that made me know that he was the man for me. We both like flat Sprite. Kinda silly.

I tag anyone who wants to do this. But to name 6 people:

Michelle, Emily, Sherstine, Jamie, Lacey and Carlie.

Feeding the Ducks

Last night for FHE we went on a walk to feed the ducks on the Greenbelt near our house. The kids love to riding in the wagon. We're trying to teach Sam how to break off pieces of bread instead of just throwing the whole thing. Kate is working on being brave when the ducks get very close. She gets pretty nervous and her reaction is always to throw more bread which just makes the problem worse. It's pretty funny.

After we got home we enjoyed some left over cupcakes from Sammy's birthday for our treats. They loved that too. We had a really good time together and it was nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful world Heavenly Father has blessed us with.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sammy!

Sam turned 2 years old!

He had a great day with only a few minor 2-year-old fits. But that just kind of goes with it. He really enjoyed opening his gifts and playing with his cousins and aunts and uncles. Thanks to everyone for celebrating with us!

We sure do love our little monkey!

Sammy not wanting to hold up his birthday sign.

For the last month or two we have been practicing singing the birthday song and then blowing out imaginary candles. But I was still surprised that he did such a great job when it was actually time for the real thing.

Quoting Kate

Here are some great quotes from our 3 1/2 year old daughter, Kate:

AUG. 2008

Kate: Mommy, my waist hurts.

Mommy: Oh, sorry, are you okay?

Kate (as she walks away): Yeah, it comed out as a toot.

SEPT. 2008

Daddy: Kate, who's faster? Mommy or Daddy?

Kate: I am.

OCT. 2008

Kate walked in after playing outside for a while and asked Daddy:

How do you play dress up with a bug?

OCT. 2008

Kate's version of Rock-A-Bye Baby:

Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top

When the wind blows the cradle will rock

When the bough breaks the cradle will fall

And down will come baby...

I will catch you!

The kids and I like to watch The Lawrence Welk Show. Last time we had it on, Kate quickly dressed up and started dancing to Moon River with them. It was so sweet. Afterward, Sammy clapped for her and she took a bow.

Apples to Applesauce

Yeah for more free fruit! Only this time it was apples. I remember helping my mom can applesauce when I was younger but couldn't remember the process without her. My mom recently had foot surgery and she wasn't able to help me can it.

So on Thursday my friend, Sheryl, helped me can applesauce! It was like neither one of us had done it before but it was a great experience and a lot of fun to talk and visit while we made it. I borrowed all of my mom's equipment and we were able to do it all in about 4 hours from set up to take down. And, might I add, it tastes great!

Thanks, Sheryl for all your help and thanks, Mom, for letting us use your stuff!

Congratulations and Welcome to the Family!

My brother, Nathan, married Melanie Dixon on September 20th in the Boise LDS Temple. It was so awesome to be there with all my brothers and their spouses. I am so happy for Nathan and Melanie. They are great together. She is so beautiful and sweet and we are all really excited to get to know her better!

Whenever Kate pretends to talk on the phone it's always to Melanie now. She was SO excited for their wedding day so she could see her new Aunt Melanie's Cinderella "up shoes" (high heels) and her "marry dress."

Welcome to the Williams gang, Melanie!